Infamous outlaw, Jessamyn County, sister of famed bounty hunter Brisco County Jr., and daughter of the late, legendary Nevada marshal Brisco County Sr., ends up in Dolan Springs, Arizona, without much rhyme or reason why. When the town is looted, the inhabitants are either killed or scattered into the wind, Jessie is the one blamed. Brisco and his partner, Lord Bowler, set out to prove Jessie innocent, dodging money hungry bounty hunters, lawmen, ordinary townsfolk, and, surprisingly, Jessie, along the way. Jessie knows the person responsible for the mayhem in Dolan Springs is Jeremiah James, a former member of her gang, and has a deadly score to settle.

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Dolan Springs, Arizona- June 18, 1893

Sometimes, days just don't go as planned. And today was certainly no exception.

"Not so smart now, are ya, mouth?" the sheriff wrenched on her arm, forcing her onto the wooden sidewalk. "You are gonna make me a rich man, County."

"Who?" she asked innocently as he shoved her through the open doorway leading into the town jail.

"Keep playing dumb. I know who you are, Jessamyn County."

"Prove it." the sheriff smirked as he opened the heavy steel door to the only cell in the jail. Thankfully it was empty. She really didn't feel like sharing her temporary living space with the town drunk or some outlaw in definite need of a bath.

"I've been waiting for you to blow through my town, County. In case you've forgotten, that bounty on your head is five thousand dollars. There ain't a lawman west of the Mississippi that don't know your face." He released the restraints from her wrists and with a sharp shove from behind, she stumbled into the tiny cell. "And you just made me a hero." he smiled and slammed the heavy cell door shut, the keys jingling as he locked it. "Oh, in case you were wondering, I plan on having a watch on you twenty-four hours a day. You're not getting' outta here until the Federal marshals come and take you away." 'I always enjoy a challenge'. she thought.

"Listen, sheriff, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not who you think I am." she said as innocently as she could. "I think you have me confused with someone else." The sheriff just laughed and settled at his desk.

"Look, sheriff," she began, leaning against the wrought iron bars, "you're making a big mistake."

"I don't think so." the sheriff answered without looking up at her. Defeated, she slumped down on the hard wooden bench. Another night in jail.

Resigned to the fact she would be here at least for a few hours, she began the process of looking for a way out. The cell seemed to be built sturdy enough, the wrought iron bars looked relatively new, not one sign of rust or weakening. But that didn't mean it could hold her. She let out a slow sigh, and let her gaze drift to the sheriff. He would always be a fail-safe, she could always turn on the charm and seduce her way out if needed. And the portly, balding sheriff seemed like an easy mark.

Her gaze continued to drift over every inch on the tiny jailhouse. She leaned her head back, enjoying the coolness of the brick wall. There wasn't anything she could do now, she surmised as she shut her eyes.

"Sheriff!" The sudden interruption stirred her from the sleep she hadn't even realized she'd slipped into. The man who had blew through the open door was a gentleman in his mid to late fifties, dressed in a bloody butcher's smock, covering dark trousers and simple grey cotton shirt. "We got trouble."

"What's going on, Herb?"

"Six desperadoes just stormed into Larry's stable and beat him pretty bad, then took off with four of his horses." Herb said, breathlessly. "They just went into the bank." The sheriff tipped the hat back on his head and adjusted his gun belt.

"Go ahead and stay here. I'll take care of this." He stepped out of the jailhouse, letting the door swing shut, with the butcher close behind, obviously choosing not to heed the sheriff's order.

She pushed herself off the bench, and leaned up against the cell, straining to see out the dirty window across from her. The sheriff had made it halfway across the street before stopping in his tracks. She couldn't see what had caused him to freeze, but the sounds of gunshots ringing through the air gave her an idea. The sheriff had drawn his pistol, and began to fire, but the unseen outlaws had the upper hand. The first bullet struck him in the chest, followed by another that ripped through the top of his skull. She watched in horror as his lifeless body slumped to the ground. Through the window, she could see the town falling into chaos. Frightened townspeople streaked past, a few unlucky ones falling from the bullets of the outlaws.

The door burst open and she recognized the men that entered as two of the Swill brothers, definitely two men she didn't want to see.

"Well, looky what we got here." The taller of the two grinned wickedly at Jessie as he approached the cell.

"That's Jessie County." the other said, matter-of-factly, receiving an annoyed look in return.

"I know who it is." he shot back, turning his attention back to Jessie. "Howdy, County."

"Hello, Phil." she sneered.

"I'm Bill, he's Phil." he growled, nodding over his shoulder the smaller, unkempt Swill.

"Whatever."

"You're lookin' awful pretty, County." Bill leered, reaching through the cell bars to brush a few strands of dark hair from her face. Jessie pulled back in disgust, slapping his hand away.

"Get a clue, Bill." she muttered.

"Well, well, well, hel-lo, County." Jessie sighed at the sound of the distinctive drawl coming from the doorway.

"What is this, an idiot convention?" she asked snidely as her gaze landed on Pete Hutter who was leaning against the jailhouse doorway. "Hello, Pete. Long time, no see. Surprised to see you still alive."

"Could say the same about you, County." Jessie smiled sweetly, leaning her willowy body against the bars.

"How bout you let me out of here, Pete. I'll make it worth you're while." she cooed, turning on the charm.

"I scoff at your dismal attempt to seduce me, County." Pete expressed, callously.

"A pathetic attempt to regain freedom." A voice agreed from the doorway. The man that entered was taller than the others, dressed head to toe in black. " But, I really don't expect much from you, Jessamyn." Jessie's eyes hardened as she looked over the familiar man that now stood in front of her.

"I should've know that these imbeciles would be riding with a sad lowlife like you, Jeremiah." Jessie muttered. Jeremiah looked her over, shaking his head in disgust.

"It's a shame you didn't die from your wounds. One has to wonder how good men like my cousins had to die, but yet, you continue to live."

"I could say the same about you." Jessie said, coldly. Jeremiah smiled and motioned for the three to follow him.

"Take care." Jeremiah said sarcastically as her turned on his heel, pausing to grab the set of keys hanging next to her gun belt, stationed by the door. "You don't mind if mind if I take these, do you? Or this?" Jeremiah grabbed her belt and grinned wickedly as he draped it over his shoulder.

"Well, you don't have to." she muttered, settling back down on the hard wooden bench. "I can't imagine what you'd need with those."

"I think I'll take them anyway." he tipped his hat before slipping through the door. "Goodbye, County."

"Damn it." she muttered.

"Oh, by the way, Jessamyn." Jeremiah called from outside her cell window, and sly grin spread across his face. "I thought I'd light you a little fire." She felt her heart sink when she heard the crackle of the fire from the entryway. "You know, to keep you warm. It'll be dark soon."

"You son-of-a-bitch." she hissed. "I'll see you in hell."

"Well, one thing's for certain." he called out as he mounted his horse. "You'll be there first." Jessie watched in vain as the band of outlaws rode away, leaving her alone, the fire spreading quickly, feeding off the dry wooden floor. She pulled futilely at the bars on her cell window, trying to think of a way to escape. She hated fire more than anything. And the thought of burning alive certainly didn't appeal to her. The flames had engulfed the majority of the front of the jailhouse, inching closer to her cell with every passing second.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." she whispered, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jessie strained to look out her cell window, her blue eyes lighting up at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Brisco?" she called out, reaching out from between the bars "Brisco, get me out of here, please?!" she cried out, trying to keep her voice level and calm, not wanting to let on just how hysterical she was.

"What the hell are you doing here, Jess?" Brisco asked as he busied himself with trying a course rope to the center bar on the jailhouse window, securing the other end to the saddle horn.

"Can we talk about this later, please. Like maybe when I'm not about to become toast."

"Stand back." Brisco ordered, waiting until Jessie was away from the window before urging his horse forward. Comet strained as he pulled the rope tightly, finally succeeding in pulling the bars from the window. Jessie cried out in joy and scurried through the window, landing to the ground with a hard thud.

"What are you doing here?" Brisco asked, as he helped his sister to her feet, pulling her harshly away from the burning jailhouse.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Jessie shot back, breathlessly, her entire body shaking from the close call.

"We've been following Jeremiah James for two weeks." Another familiar voice growled off to her left, drawing her attention the gruff man hunter who towered over her by nearly a foot and a half, his bowler pulled low over his eyes, and the permanent sneer on his lips.

"Oh, really?" Jessie asked sarcastically. "Well, you may have just missed him."

"So it would seem." Brisco muttered.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I really should be getting along." Jessie tossed a disarming smile her brother's way and turned to leave, only to be stared down by Lord Bowler.

"What's the hurry?" Bowler sneered, lowering his head so he was nearly eye to eye with her.

"What?" Jessie asked, her face etched with pure innocence.

"How long has it been since James rode through here?" Brisco asked, moving to her right, and conveniently boxing her in.

"Not long. About ten minutes or so, which means you really should be getting back on his trail, huh?" Jessie asked, trying to step past the bounty hunters.

"And I think you're on your way to do the same thing." Brisco surmised, an amused grin spreading across his face.

"I don't care about Jeremiah James, or his merry band of idiots. What I care about is getting as far away from Dolan Springs as I can before this mess somehow gets attached to my name. And, as far as I know, the ill-fated sheriff has wired the federal marshals, informing them of my appearance here in Arizona, and I don't think this is going to reflect well on me at all."

"James is headed for his hideout out in the mountains." Bowler said, his face still level with hers.

"Probably."

"Which is nearly impossible to find." Brisco added.

"But not completely impossible." Jessie quipped.

"Of course, it's a whole lot easier to find with someone who used to hide out there herself leading the way." Jessie rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You do your revenge thing your way, Brisco. I do it my way. You can go after Jeremiah James if you want to, I'm not going to help you, though."

"You know, Jess," Brisco began, grabbing his sister's arm as she tried to push through a slight opening between the two, "you being difficult is really not much of a surprise."

"Good." Jessie sneered. "I hate to disappoint."

"But I know you want Jeremiah just as bad as I do." Brisco continued, refusing to let her arm free. "And I know as soon as you leave here, you're on your way to track him down yourself. I figure it'd be a whole lot easier if we did it together."

"That's the same lame line Dixie used on the two of you to get you to work together, isn't it?" Jessie snorted, receiving an angry glare from Bowler. "Well, I'm not falling for it. Now if you'll excuse me…" Jessie shook her arm free with one quick pull and tried yet again to step past Bowler.

"Now, you listen to me, you wormy little, law-dodging, two-faced thief," Bowler began, his tone low and threatening, as he grabbed the outlaw by the collar and pulled her close. "you ought to be thanking us for not turning your little behind in the last time you stumbled across our path. And the least you can do is take us to James' hideout."

"No." Jessie said, pushing harshly against Bowler, trying to release herself from his tight grip. "The least I can do is nothing. And if you're really requesting my help, this is certainly not the way to go about it."

"Bowler…" Brisco warned softly, the look in his eye pleading with the bounty hunter to free his sister from his hold.

"Oh, all right." Bowler mumbled, loosening his grasp, allowing Jessie to pull away.

"Fine, Jess." Brisco said dismissively. "Go ahead. Go after James and his gang all by yourself." Jessie smiled smugly, tossing a snide look Bowler's way. "I mean, it should be rather easy. After all, it's only ten men, armed to the teeth, and already with the element of surprise on their side. And you, well," Brisco looked his sister up and down with sympathy. "You don't even have a gunbelt." It was now Bowler's turn to smile arrogantly when he noticed Jessie's smile fade.

"But, hey," Brisco continued, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm sure you'll be fine. C'mon, Bowler." Brisco added over his shoulder as he began to walk away from a stunned Jessie.

"God, Brisco, you always do this." Jessie hissed, rushing to catch up to her brother.

"Do what?"

"Act…act like, like this." Jessie growled, her words tumbling over one another.

"Like what?" Brisco asked innocently.

"You know like what." Jessie hissed, matching Brisco's stride. "Look…fine, I get it, okay? I'll take you to Jeremiah's hideout, under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You can take in his gang the way you want too, but I get to take care of Jeremiah my own way. Take it or leave it." Jessie added after a slight pause.

"Alright, fine." Brisco agreed finally, ignoring the uneasy feeling that washed over him when he noticed the look in Jessie's blue eyes.